Supreme Court Asked to Hear Challenge of California’s Prop 12

NPPC and AFBF Detail Violations of Dormant Commerce Clause in California’s Restrictive Space Requirements for Sows.

From an article in National Hog Farmer by Jacqui Fatka

Proposition 12 bans the sale of pork in California unless the sow from which it was derived was housed with space allowances that almost no farms satisfy. Californians account for 13% of the nation’s pork consumption yet import 99.87% of pork consumed. The massive costs of complying with Proposition 12 fall almost exclusively on out-of-state farmers, according to a court filing from the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against California’s Proposition 12.

The appeal to the high court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in July upheld a lower court ruling against the NPPC-AFBF case. The appeals court found despite the organizations plausibly alleging that Prop. 12 “will have dramatic upstream effects and require pervasive changes to the pork industry nationwide,” 9th Circuit precedent won’t allow the case to continue. That precedent, however, runs counter to numerous Supreme Court decisions and is in conflict with nearly every other federal circuit court,